Lebanese Paper: Syria Has Moved Chemical Weapons Materials To Iraq

Syria last week moved 20 trucks carrying material and equipment used to manufacture chemical weapons into neighboring Iraq, the Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal reports.

The Al-Mustaqbal report, which was picked up by the Jerusalem Post, came just a day after Washington and Moscow struck a deal stipulating that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime should destroy its chemical arsenal to avert an American military assault.

Al-Mustaqbal reported the trucks crossed the Iraq-Syria border Thursday and Friday. Border guards did not inspect their contents, raising suspicions the trucks contained illicit cargo, according to the newspaper.

Al-Mustaqbal, a publication that has long been affiliated with anti-Syrian political elements in Lebanon, quoted a denial from Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan.

Maan said security forces were deployed along the border and were checking all vehicles coming into the country.

"Iraq today is not Saddam Hussein's Iraq," he said. "These accusations are all rumors and . . . no one believes them."

Last week, the head of the Free Syrian Army, which is fighting to topple the Assad regime, told CNN that opposition intelligence indicated Damascus was moving chemical arms out of the country.

"Today, we have information that the regime began to move chemical materials and chemical weapons to Lebanon and to Iraq," Gen. Salim Idriss claimed.

Idriss said the rebels were not interested in the new U.S.-Russian deal over Assad’s chemical-weapons arsenal.

“Russia is a partner with the regime in killing the Syrian people,” he said. “A crime against humanity has been committed and there is not any mention of accountability."